Oh, Jaden, you know better than that.
“Jaden, open this door,” I ordered.
I could hear her immediately pause her movements, silence following my demand.
“Go away, asshole,” she replied, her voice expressing her obvious hatred for me, like that would somehow deter me.
“Open this door.Now.”
“Just leave me the fuck alone!”
“Goddamnit, Jaden, if I have to break this door down, you are not going to like the consequences,” I warned.
At my threat, I could hear Jaden’s footsteps move toward the door, but instead of opening it, she seemed to slump herself against it and then slide down to the floor.
“Good luck with that while I’m leaning against it,” she retorted.
I sighed in frustration knowing full well that I would need to extend some extra patience with her.She was pregnant, hormonal, and grieving the loss of her dog, so she would be even more temperamental than usual for the next couple of weeks.
Like that was any different than her usual attitude toward me, but I had a feeling it would take her a little longer to get over the loss of Camaro.
Maybe I should get her a cat.
Gripping the door handle tight, I yanked it back hard enough to break it through the doorjamb, the wood frame splintering as the door came loose.Jaden gasped, quickly scrambling to her feet as I nearly wrenched the door off its hinges and stepped through the doorway.
“What the hell!”she shrieked as she stood back from me.She had already changed into a short dark gray sundress that clung to her still damp skin while her bare feet slid along the slick wet floor.
“You know better than to think a single door is going to keep you from me.”
“Go away!You think I want anything to do with you after what you did to Camaro!?Stay the fuck away from me, you bastard!”
I rolled my eyes, grabbing her arm and yanking her to me.Her hair was still wet and her skin damp, but she smelled clean, like she had just stepped out of the shower.
“When will you learn,” I murmured as I moved her wet hair from her face so I could examine the mark on her cheek that Daniel had caused her.Her skin was still flushed from the heat of the shower, so the mark looked worse than it really was.
Her face formed a scowl as she looked away from me, but she held still while I looked her over.That was, until her stubbornness got the better of her, and she swung her arm up.I grabbed her wrist before she could land her strike against my face and gripped it tight.Jaden growled when I refused to let go and lifted her knee to kick me.
“Let go of me!”she shouted as she continued to fight me.
Grabbing her other wrist, I pressed her against the wall to keep her still and looked down at her bare neck.
“Where is your necklace?”
“The same place my dog is!In the fucking ocean!”
I felt a growl rumble in my chest at her blatant disobedience.“You’re telling me you just threw over three hundred thousand dollars into the ocean?”
She scoffed as she sneered back at me.“That’s hardly comparable since what you threw into the ocean was priceless.”
“Correction,” I snapped, “youthrew her over.The only reason she’s gone is because of you and your refusal to obey me.”
“That’s bullshit!”she shouted back.“You could have done anything else!Retire her, moved her off the property, given her to someone else.Anything butkill her!”
I paused for a moment as I stared down at her.Tears had now started to form in her eyes, glistening like liquid crystal, and yet I felt nothing.A better man would be affected by them.A better man might feel guilt for causing them.But I wasn’t a better man.I was me, and I shook my head at her instead.
“You’re right, Jaden.I could have done any one of those things,” I said, lowering my face to her eye level.“But I didn’t because at that moment, I needed you to feel the pain of the consequences I had been warning you about for too damn long.You needed to learn.And it seems I hit my mark.”
Jaden’s eyes grew wide with hurt and disbelief as she stared back at me.And then she suddenly slammed her forehead into my nose.